Russian Sub Museum

The Russian Sub Museum, owned by the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, is located at Collier Point Park, off of Allens Avenue. It consists of a 300-foot Juliett-class 484 submarine, once armed with nuclear missiles, docked adjacent to the park. The land is owned by New England Power and Narragansett Electric, who commissioned the Cardi Corporation to build the park. The submarine was acquired by the Museum Foundation in March 2002 and was refurbished for public visitors until its opening in August of the same year.

Description

Red, black and 300 feet long, the "Juliett 484," originally titled "K-77" when in service, remains mostly as it was when hunting US aircraft carriers during the Cold War. From April-August 2002, it was docked at the Port of Providence, where it was modified for the general public--mostly in the form of steel walkways along the top of the exterior, and down the length of the interior to create a path by which guided tours could maneuver. The American flag flying over the painted red star is explicitly symbolic of the end of the Cold War.

Visitors are first required to enter the receptionist's office, located in one of two trailers set up on blocks in the parking area, via a mock porthole two and a half feet wide which mimics doorways inside the sub. After watching a brief video about the sub's history, they walk across a pier and enter the sub via a hatch on the south end of the vessel.

The sub has two hulls: an outer shell, covered in rubber to foil radar detection, that houses ballast tanks and other waterproof equipment; and an inner, watertight hull for human habitation. The sub's interior is a jumble of color-coded pipes, valves, and instrument panels. Sailors had to be 5'8" or shorter in order to serve on the K-77 because of the short bunks. The exception to this rule was the captain, who had his own wood-paneled quarters. Also relatively ornate is the officers' wardroom, which doubled as an operating table when needed. Most of the controls have a numbered label corresponding to a group trained to operate them. Guided tours move along the length of the sub, through seven narrow portals, and emerge from a hatch in the other end out onto the top of the sub.

History

During the Cold War, the K-77 and the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga shadowed each other. This fact is what makes this submarine special to the Museum Foundation. Many of the sub's staff members once served on the Saratoga; they now are in the unique position of fully confronting their former menace, which back then was only perceptible as uncertain measurements--a blip on a radar screen, or a point triangulated on a map.

Built in the 60s and decommissioned in 1994, the K-77 was sold to the private sector and functioned as an unconventional by hardly lucrative restaurant in Helsinki, then Tampa, before serving as a set for Paramount Pictures' K-19: The Widowmaker. On March 21st, The USS Saratoga Museum Foundation announced that it had bought the sub off of eBay for less than $1 million. Former Mayor Vincent Cianci is credited with making the purchase possible, though the exact nature of his involvement is unclear.

History

During the Cold War, the K-77 and the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga shadowed each other. This fact is what makes this submarine special to the Museum Foundation. Many of the sub's staff members once served on the Saratoga; they now are in the unique position of fully confronting their former menace, which back then was only perceptible as uncertain measurements--a blip on a radar screen, or a point triangulated on a map.

Built in the 60s and decommissioned in 1994, the K-77 was sold to the private sector and functioned as an unconventional by hardly lucrative restaurant in Helsinki, then Tampa, before serving as a set for Paramount Pictures' K-19: The Widowmaker. On March 21st, The USS Saratoga Museum Foundation announced that it had bought the sub off of eBay for less than $1 million. Former Mayor Vincent Cianci is credited with making the purchase possible, though the exact nature of his involvement is unclear.

K-19: The Widowmaker was filmed in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The K-77 was towed from there to the Port of Providence in April 2002; on the way, the towline broke in a storm. The sub floated freely for nearly eight hours amid 20-foot waves until the tugboat crew was able to reattach it. The trip took six days. Upon arrival, the interior was slightly modified to accomodate visitors; the museum opened in August.

Debate regarding the future location of the sub continues at the museum, on the street, and in the Providence Journal editorial section. Some argue that it should be next to the Saratoga, which is currently docked in Middletown, RI, but will become a part of the projected Quonset Air/Land/Sea Historic Park, budget permitting. Others protest that Collier Point Park is the perfect location for the sub, and that it has already become a Providence landmark.

Context

The immediate context for the Russian Sub Museum is Collier Point Park. Built in 1996 and owned by the parent conglomerate of Narragansett Electric, it was a simple, bare six-acre park until the Saratoga Museum Foundation leased the land for the submarine. Everything except the sub and the trailer offices for the museum were there from 1996; its suitability for the project was not plan, but luck.

The park area was once a commercial dock that received coal to power two nearby electric plants: South Street Station, whose origins began with the first Providence streetlamps in the 19th century; and Manchester Street Station , which was built to electrify the trolley system in 1895. Defunct coal-moving apparatus still sit on the park's waterfront. The park was named after the "collier ship," which was once a common sight in the harbor.

The park is shaped like an L with parking lots on both branches and sparse amounts of grass. It sits amid modern commercial docks and giant fuel tanks. Unused picnic tables and trash cans, painted in chipped primary colors, sit on a concrete platform overlooking the water. A horizontal steel girder, like scaffolding for power lines, spans the length of this platform and reminds visitors of the site's former purpose.

Other features of the park include a small boat ramp for public use, and a "transfer house"--a two-story observation deck offering limited sheltered seating and a wide view of the harbor . From the ground, rock embankments do a decent job of hiding nearby industrial sites; Rhode Island and Hasbro Hopitals are visible to the west. As of November 2003, machines can be seen dredging the bay to accomodate larger freight vessels, though the USS Saratoga will not likely enter the harbor. Nearby along the waterfront are the Fox Point Providence Hurricane Barrier and India Point Park.